Last modified: Sunday, May 14, 2006 11:48 PM EDT Julie and Omar Taffah of Norton adopted Kenza, left, from Guatemala in December. At right is their son Noah. (Staff photo by Mike George) Area parents looking to adopt look to Guatemala BY STACEY M. PERLMAN/FOR THE SUN CHRONICLE Susan Courtemanche pulled out two blurry, wallet-sized pictures from her billfold, one of baby Joshua at one month old and the other of baby Daniel at only one week old. For some time, those pictures were the only connection Susan and her husband, John Courte manche, had to their two sons as they went through the adoption process. Now, Daniel and Joshua, bio logical brothers adopted from Guatemala, are 8 and 10, respec tively, living a happy life with their parents and 6-year-old sis ter, Samantha, in their North Attleboro home. Adoptions from Guatemala, like the Courtemanches', have risen dramatically over the last 10 years, giving the country the third highest adoption rate for children coming to America from 2002 to 2005, according to U.S. immigration statistics. Established in 1983, the Guatemala adoption program at Wide Horizons For Children in Waltham only placed a handful of children in adopted homes each year until 1996, when the numbers jumped. That year, 26 children were adopted, and the numbers have steadily increased since. Last year, 62 Guatemalan chil dren were adopted through Wide Horizons. `` The program began to really open up at that time and the developing process became more clear,'' said Debbie Mansfield, manager for the Guatemala pro gram at Wide Horizons. After attending an informa tional meeting, the Courtemanch es said they knew right away that they wanted to adopt but had to look at what countries were avail able to them. `` We have some friends who had known a few people from Guatemala and the agency encourages you prior to doing an adoption to research and under stand the culture and the her itage and the background so that you understand it and you're comfortable with that,'' said Susan. `` So we did some reading about the different countries that were available to us given our age restrictions,'' she continued. `` Some of them have religious restrictions and marriage restrictions and all kinds of stuff, and we ended up selecting Guatemala to go to.'' One other deciding factor for the Courtemanches was that children in Guatemala are placed in foster homes as opposed to orphanages. Children are therefore placed in a family setting, and no foster mother gets more than two children at a time, said John. `` That's also something you think about when you're looking at the process,'' said Susan. The foster care system is set up by private attorneys because, unlike other countries, Guatemala does not have any formal child welfare program. `` The attorneys network and place the children with people they trust,'' said Mansfield. `` The attorneys are responsible for taking care of that child. Without them no one would be there to advocate for the children.'' Julie Taffah of Norton, who along with her husband Omar adopted a 10-month old baby girl, Kenza, from Guatemala in December, also liked that the children were placed in foster care because of the one-on-one attention that each child received. Kenza did, however, have some attachment issues that she is just starting to overcome. `` She needed to learn she could trust me. She's been through three foster homes,'' said Taffah. The Courtemanches and the Taffahs went through rigorous background checks and paperwork, but both agreed it was well worth it. `` They're very conscientious about what documentation they're looking for. It's not like, `We have these babies and we want them out of our country as soon as possible.' They make us go through background checks'85They care about where the children are going,'' said John Courtemanche. The rise in poverty in Guatemala has also resulted in more children being placed for adoption. `` The need is tremendous due to poverty, due to the fact that there is no child welfare. If there are children in need, there isn't any support for them,'' said Mansfield. While some people have been compelled to adopt because of the humanitarian need, Mansfield said most people have decided to adopt for the simple reason that they want to bring a child into their family. Taffah, who made three trips to Guatemala during the adoption process, noticed the poverty right away but also noticed that despite the poverty, everyone there was smiling and calm. `` Everything here is rush, rush, rush,'' she said. `` There's no sense of urgency there.'' The Courtemanches have been open with Joshua, Daniel and their biological daughter, Samantha, about the boys' heritage, and Taffah plans to do the same as Kenza and her biological son Noah, 5, grow older. Both families also hope to travel to Guatemala one day so their children can see where they came from. Wide Horizons has added more attorneys to work with in hopes of helping more children find homes. By the end of 2006, Mansfield said the agency hopes to have 100 children adopted, which would be their highest number of children placed in the United States. `` We're keeping an eye on any law changes that might come,'' said Mansfield. `` As long as the system will allow us, we will be happy to keep adopting.'' Stacey Perlman is an intern at the Sun Chronicle from Northeastern University and can be reached at perlman.s(at)(at)neu.edu.